Cutter Delivers Humanitarian Aid During Georgian Crisis

When a U.S. Coast Guard ship pulls into a port in Georgia, most Americans will be forgiven if they assume its just another day in the States for the service that is best-known for its boater's safety classes and the search and rescue missions it responds to around the nation's waterways.

This week though, the Coast Guard was in the news as one of its larger cutters, the 378-foot Dallas, pulled into port in Batumi, Georgia, Aug. 27, to deliver humitarian supplies to that former Soviet republic. The nation of Georgia has been the focus of much international attention in the past weeks as it and Russia have been engaged in armed conflict over the fate of two regions in Georgia which are seeking to break-away from that country and more closely align with Russia.

So what's the Coast Guard doing in the "other" Georgia?

The mission to deliver humanitarian supplies to Georgia was not specifically a Coast Guard mission, but was assigned to what's known as Task Force 367, a small fleet of several U.S. Navy ships that had been operating in the area. The Task Force previously had been participating in Africa Partnership Station, an initiative to build partnerships between the U.S. and nations in West and Central Africa. The Dallas and its crew of approximately 125 left its home station port of Charleston, S.C., in June, to join the task force.

"The Coast Guard is a perfect fit for Africa because most of the continent's navies and coast guards are similar to the U.S. service in terms of missions and vessel size," Coast Guard Capt. Phillip J. Heyl wrote in the August issue of "Proceedings," a publication of the U.S. Naval Institute.

The Dallas, considered a "High Endurance Cutter" by the Coast Guard, is among the largest cutters, aside from the three major Icebreakers, ever built for the Coast Guard. The ship has a long history of international operations since it was first commissioned in 1967. In its earliest years, it completed seven combat rotations in the Vietnam area. Since then, Coasties serving aboard the Dallas have been involved in operations in the waters near Haiti, Kosovo and was the command ship during the search for debris from the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

In an interview on Aug. 27 with the public radio program "The World," the cutter's captain, Capt. Robert Wagner, said in his 23 years of Coast Guard service, he's been in nearly 40 different nations.

He called the Dallas' arrival in Batumi a highlight of that career.

"This is one of the most meaningful missions I have made in my 23 years in the Coast Guard," he said.

Dallas and its task force had originally been scheduled to dock in the Georgian port in the city of Poti, but that area was under control of Russian military forces, prompting a change in plans for the Americans, according to various news sources.

Wagner said his ship delivered more than 80 pallets loaded with food, hygiene supplies, baby care items and other humanitarian assistance items in Batumi. He said while working to off-load the supplies, his crew saw Georgian children "holding thumbs up and waving American flags."

Asked about his ship's security posture during its operations in and near Georgia, Wagner said "we are always concerned about any threats that might be out there, but we have enjoyed unimpeded navigation in this area."

The crew of Dallas really wants these goods to make a difference in the lives of the Georgian people," Wagner said in a Coast Guard news release. "When we received the order to deliver these supplies, the men and women of this ship responded quickly at every turn."